SHANGHAI -- More than 40% of China's publicly traded companies booked a net loss for the January-March quarter as the coronavirus outbreak crushed demand across a range of industries, from restaurants and real estate to appliances and automobiles.
Nearly 720 of roughly 1,650 companies that have reported three-month results cited a loss, data compiled by Nikkei shows. Overall, 70% of these businesses suffered either a loss or a net profit decline, making this the worst first quarter for Chinese companies since comparable data became available in 2003.
